A criminal organization operating five entertainment bars in Seomyeon, Busan, which manufactured and sold counterfeit liquor and carried out billions of won in scams, has been busted by the police.
The Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the Busan National Police Agency has formally arrested and indicted a man in his 30s, identified as A, the ringleader, on charges of fraud and the formation, joining, and activities of a criminal organization, while sending 60 accomplices to prosecutors without detention.
They are accused of committing fraud from April 2022 to September 2024 by operating five bars in the Seomyeon area of Busan, luring intoxicated customers, serving them pre-manufactured counterfeit liquor, and inflating and charging exorbitant drink bills.
It was found that the total sales of counterfeit liquor, made by mixing leftover whiskey and black tea, amounted to 3.5 billion won, with more than 1,000 victims.
Ringleader A and his associates operated the entertainment bars by employing staff centered around three managers, dividing roles into madams, waiters, touts, and female hostesses.
During this process, three managers, including the ringleader and head managers, were found to have tightly controlled the organization through brutal abuse, such as forcing employees who violated internal rules—such as failing to meet daily sales quotas—to self-harm.
Their methods were cruel.
They subjected workers to various forms of abuse, such as locking them in a sauna until they passed out, forcing them into the winter sea and ice-water bathtubs, and making them run on treadmills while holding heavy weight plates.
The case came to light when six employees, unable to endure the abuse any longer, voluntarily reported it to the police.
When A conducted random inspections of their mobile phones and discovered the reports, the victims were even confined inside vehicles, but the police responded swiftly and rounded up A and his gang one after another.
Immediately following A's arrest, the police requested Interpol Red Notices for one co-leader and one manager with a gang background who fled overseas.
In addition, the police obtained a pre-indictment preservation order from the court for 200 million won in escape funds that were scheduled to be delivered to them, and notified the National Tax Service about the five problematic bars.
(Photo: Provided by Busan National Police Agency)
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